Today, we take you to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Not the one in Washington DC.. Although it looks like the Washington Monument, this is actually a memorial in Suffolk County, New York.... Sitting atop the highest point in Long Island, it is right in the middle of Patchogue - Mt. Sinai Road in Coram, on what used to be called Breakneck Hill. Back in the 1800's, Breakneck Hill was a toll road for people riding their bicycles on the way to Port Jefferson - yes, they even charged tolls back then !! Some things never change....
The ironic part of this monument was that it was completed in 1972 - a year before we began removing troops, and three years before the fall of Saigon. Was it built in the hopes that it would bring the troops home earlier? I dont know, I was four, and I don't really remember Vietnam. I was busy learning to ride a bicycle without training wheels.
I must have driven past this park and monument at least twenty times in my life, and I never stopped in it, until this week. There were a few guys there, all of them in their 50's and 60's. I imagine the memorial gives them a little peace, a little thanks for the sacrifice they gave - and a place to remember their friends who didn't come home.... If you're driving through sometime, take ten minutes to check it out. Just take the Long Island Expressway to Exit 63 North, and go about five miles - you can't miss it. By the way, it's free....
The monument from the South parking area...
The view from the base of the monument. The stuff in the back is the Great South Bay, Fire Island and the Atlantic Ocean - about 15 miles away....
The tip of the monument, draped like an American Flag...
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